suit the serious people. His language is what I suppose he calls sublime and elegant, but I apprehend not adapted to the capacities of common hearers. There is an affectation of such language, and of what they call oratory in many of our young preachers. It is a very easy thing to talk in that strain. To speak in plain, familiar, yet proper and pertinent language, is not so easy, but requires more pains than they choose to take; yet, without this, I see no good end their preaching is likely to answer."* Similar quotations may be multiplied almost indefinitely. Let the most esteemed writers, whether among the Episcopalians, the Puritans, or the Nonconformists, be consulted, and the same testimony will be borne. The counsel and the example of such men is important; their voice ought to be heard, their experience, their wisdom, and their usefulness, entitle them to the highest regard. Lest any, however, should object that the instances adduced are old fashioned and unworthy the attention of a modern divine; lest it should be urged that our congregations differ, that they are more enlightened, that taste is more refined and habits more accomplished, I will trespass upon the reader's attention by introducing the sentiments of an illustrious living author, who cannot be suspected of enmity to any of the graces or beauties of language. "There are two qualities inseparable from religious instruction-these are seriousness and affection. It is scarcely necessary to remark, how offensive and unnatural is every violation of it in a religious discourse, which is, however, of wider extent than is generally imagined; including, not merely jesting, buffoonery, and undisguised levity of every sort, but Letters to Dissenting Ministers, by Job Orton; published by Palmer. vol. i, p. 200. also whatever in composition or manner is inconsistent with the supposition of the speaker being deeply in earnest; such as sparkling ornaments, far-fetched images, and that exuberance of flowers which seems evidently designed to gratify the fancy rather than to touch the heart. When St. Paul recommends to Timothy that sound speech which cannot be condemned, it is probable he refers as much to the propriety of the vehicle as to the purity of the instruction. There is, permit me to remind you, a sober dignity both of language and of sentiment suited to the representation of religion in all its variety of topics, from which the inspired writers never depart, and which it will be our wisdom to imitate. In describing the pleasures of devotion, or the joys of heaven, there is nothing weak, sickly, or effeminate: a chaste severity pervades their delineations; and whatever they say appears to emanate from a serious mind, accustomed to the contemplation of great objects, without ever sinking under them from imbecility, or attempting to supply a deficiency of interest, by puerile exaggerations and feeble ornaments. The exquisite propriety of their representations is chiefly to be ascribed to their habitual seriousness, and the latter to their seeing things as they are."+ Let the fact of usefulness be considered. The question, whose ministrations have been most blessed, is not an unprofitable one. It may excite thoughtfulness, and be productive of good. Surely the reply will not be in favour of those whose discourses + A Discourse on the Discouragements and Supports of the Christian Minister, by the Rev. Robert Hall. pp. 27, 28, 29. Many alas, who should be factors for Christ, play the merchants for their own credit. They are sent to woo souls for Christ, and they speak one word for him and two for themselves, This is a great wick partake more of heathen philosophy 66 A regular historical detail of the effects of preaching would not comport with the space or design of this Essay; but the thing itself may be edness, which Paul solemnly clears himself P. Commentary in Loc. alluded to, because the prosecution No doubt this is one of the reasons of the attachment of pious persons to the writings of the " old divines." A predilection observable. in the devout episcopalian as well as the congregationalist. There is in the compositions referred to, and which mainly are specimens of accustomed preaching, a powerful savour of divine truth, an exhibition of the fulness that is in Christ, an evident disregard to things exter § If we maim the Gospel, and suppress a good part of it, we can expect but a very defective success in the nature of things; nay, may we not fear God's honour is concerned in such case to blast us, and we shall be like to labour almost in vain.---Jennings's Discourse on Preaching Christ, p. 30. ed 1736. nal and imposing, especially when brought into competition with inspired truth. There is manifested a sincerity of intention and effort, which reminds the reader at once of divine influence. Instead of the attraction of laboured finery, instead of astonishment being excited by a calculation of toil as bestowed upon a period, or the construction of a passage, the mind is led into itself is elevated to the Saviour. There is observable in their productions a deeply rooted affection for souls, an anxiety to reach the heart, which gains upon the human mind, and causes, under a divine blessing, the reader's feelings to respond. Let the text be what it may, the sentiments of the Holy Ghost are anxiously elicited; the writers seem to grasp the whole object with a firmness and distinctness, which are of essential importance for the right I explanation of truth. They seem, also, to have studied character. There is a variety of application which shews, not merely a watchful inspection of themselves, but a careful observation of others. Motives are analysed, the depths of sin delineated, the devices of Satan unravelled, holy doctrines ably explained and brought home to the heart in their practical bearings and sanctifying influence. In short, they bowed with reverence to the book of God; they discerned the weight of their office, and estimated their own responsibilities in connexion with the work of Christ. In perusing their discourses, it never occurs to the reader that the ordinance of preaching is a nursery for display; but that it is the divinely appointed method of introducing the redeemed of the Lord to the glories of the heavenly state. They were not content to preach before their hearers, but to them; to avoid the guilt of blood rather than to be extolled by a mixed assembly. It is recorded, that during one of our Lord's discourses, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." Luke xi, 27. She no doubt studied the pleasure of the Saviour, in giving a testimony to his ministry and doctrine so decided and so public. But ob serve the answer" Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.". A plain intimation, that he who would be faith ful must deny and resist the operations of selfishness and ambition, and manifest, as well as feel, a supreme and single regard to the glory of God in his ministerial work. 、",",、!i}}%¥ ན་།། HOLER Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul, own, would express him simple, grave, sincere; It will be evident that the preceding remarks intend no reflection on the cultivation of sound learning, no objection to the impassioned eloquence of devout feeling. Amidst all the beautiful simplicity which a deep conviction of the Gospel tends to produce, there is room left for the most manly and noble eloquence; which, therefore, the Christian preacher should labour to make habitual to him, and of which St, Paul is a most illustrious example." It is the want of the one, it is the abuse of the other, at which these animadversions are aimed. The observations, therefore, are directed to the counteraction of an evident design to please and to attract, at the ex pense of all that is sublime and important; it is to the subversion, as much as may be, of a system which is destructive of the very ends of preaching; a system which leads hearers to imagine, that, notwithstanding a minister professes to regard a crucified Saviour as the foundation of a sinner's hope, and to believe that the influence of the Holy Spirit is indispensable to render the word effectual, he ever seems to rest for acceptance and success upon the artifices of rhetoric and the ornaments of speech. The subject may be pressed by enquiry-leaving the answer to calm reflection. Is unintelligible declamation, are crude metaphysical discussions, entertaining essays, decked with quotations from Shakspeare, Sterne, Walter Scott, and a host of writers (all useful in their place,) the proper themes for a Gospel ministry? Will they tend to promote the main business of the Christian instructor" to make clearer the narrow road to eternal life, and incline us to walk in it?"* Thus saith the chief of the Apostles-" We use great plainness of speech."-"And I brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." It is impossible to peruse such a declaration as this, which embodies all the ains and all the plans of a devoted minister of the New Testament, without perceiving its force, especially when it is considered, that it was made by one of the most learned men, and addressed to the polite but speculating Corinthians. Well might another Apos tle enjoin-"If any man speak,"not only as a private Christian, but as a public teacher-" let him speak as the oracles of God "§that is, speak "Faithfully, holily and wisely, gravely and decently, that light expressions, and affected flourishes, and unseemly gestures be avoided; and that there be a sweet contemperature of authority and mildness." (To be concluded in our next.) THE ORPHAN.-A FACT. From the Southern Evangelical Intelligencer. It was on a pleasant summer's eve, that the pastor of one of our NewEngland villages took his usual walk, after spending the day in study. He was a good old man, who had long been faithful over the beloved people of his charge; and he had been a successful labourer in the cause of his Master, till his head had become silvered, and his tottering tenement needed the support of a staff. The sun had already sunk in the west, and was pouring his last rays into the golden sky, as the pastor entered the village grave-yard. There is something in this hour of the day that gives a pleasing melancholy to the soul, which, added to the place in which he was walking, was peculiarly adapted to assist the holy man in his meditations; and, if need be, to raise his thoughts from this world, and to place them on that which he felt was his home. The good man was pressing beneath his softly trembling steps the sods which covered many of his beloved parishioners, when he came to the spot where lay his wife and three beautiful daughters, whose loveliness, like the opening rose, was blasted ere it was fully exhibited. The pastor leaned on his staff, and bent over these graves, and was just marking out by their side the spot where he hoped shortly to lie in peace, when he was startled by the sobs of a child. He turned, and, at a little distance, beheld a lovely little white-headed boy, who was kneeling and sobbing over the grave of his father, whose ashes had lately been deposited beneath. With a melting heart the good shepherd approached the child of his friend, and, with the tenderness of an angel, he raised and kissed this orphan lamb of his flock, whose face was pallid through grief, and whose bright blue eyes were swollen by weeping. He sat down beside the grave, and pressed the weeping boy to his bosom. "O, Sir," sait the child, "let me cry for my father he lies deep in that grave; they tell me he will never again be my father-I fear that I have offended him, that he will no more be my father, and I want to ask him to forgive me, and -to kiss me as he used to do!-Oh! if he would once more be my father, I would never again offend him. -But they say he is dead! O, I would sit here and cry all night-I would never stop if my poor father would come to me! But he will not come-for, a few days before they put him in this hole, he told me *O, I do remember it-he told me he was going to leave me, and I should never have a father any more; and he stroked my hair with his sick hand, and told me when he was buried in the ground, that I must be a good boy and love God: Oh! my poor, good father!" The feeling pastor pressed the hand of the sorrowing child within his; and, ere he could answer him, he had wet with his tears the silken hair of the orphan. The first object was to sooth him into confidence, and then to direct him to a Father who would never forsake him. With patience he satisfied his curiosity respecting death-how that it is a long sleep, but that the voice of God will one day awake even the dead. He told him how death was introduced into the world, and made him understand that it was the consequence of sin. He explained to him the natural depravity of the heart-how we, "like sheep have all gone astray." He laboured to impress upon him a correct view of the character of God-his attributes of love, mercy, justice, &c. and then explained how we might be saved by Jesus Christ. He next strove deeply to impress upon the listening boy what is "the chief end of man ;" and thus concluded, while his hearer seemed to hang upon his lips: "And now, my dear little boy, you have indeed lost a tender father; but I have been trying to point out to you a Father, who has promised never to forsake the poor orphan." "But," says the child, it to be an orphan?" F "what is "It is to be left destitute of parents while we are yet children." "I think I understand; but what is a poor orphan?” The clergyman was affected, but replied, "It is a child who is left destitute of property as well as friends." "O, I wish," said the child, in the simplicity of his heart, "I wish that I was a poor orphan, if God would be my father." The good minister wept for he knew that the child's wish respecting property would be fully satis fied "I trust, my dear child, that God will be your father. You know how short are our lives— how certain our death-how much we have to do to prepare for death |